How NFT royalties work on Solana
An NFT royalty is a percentage of each resale price paid to the collection's creators, set in the NFT's metadata in basis points (500 = 5%). On Solana, royalties are enforced on-chain for programmable NFTs and for Metaplex Core NFTs using the royalties plugin with enforcement; for legacy NFTs, paying them is up to the marketplace.
Where the number comes from
Every Solana NFT carries a seller_fee_basis_points value and a list of creator addresses with their shares. 500 basis points means 5% of the sale price goes to those creators.
Enforced vs optional
For legacy Token Metadata NFTs the royalty is only a recorded preference; a marketplace can pay it, reduce it, or skip it. Programmable NFTs and Core NFTs with enforced royalties route every transfer through rules the creator set, so a sale through an unapproved path simply fails.
Who pays it
The buyer, on top of the listed price. Orbis shows the royalty before you confirm. An unusually high royalty on a single NFT — sometimes 50% or more — is a red flag: creators sometimes set it on stolen NFTs so they cannot be resold at the listed price.
Frequently asked questions
Do I pay royalties when I buy an NFT?
On a resale, yes — the royalty is added to the price at checkout. On a primary mint there is no royalty; you pay the mint price.
What is a normal royalty on Solana?
Most Solana collections set between 0% and 10%, with 5% the most common.